TV or No TV

Carl says I am obsessed with this topic. I think it is because television is my own personal demon and I don't want it to be for the boys, so I think about it all the time. For 5 years of my life, basically my junior year in high school until I moved in with Carl my senior year in college, I never watched tv. I was too busy with school, socializing and making something of myself. I wish I could get back to that place, but every night I watch 1-2 hours of tv, when I am out of it, I even watch it while the boys nap and I don't like that aspect about myself.

Although in my defense, television is really good right now. All the drama and movie channel tv shows are movie quality these days so I don't really watch movies, but I watch television. To add fuel to the fire I was reading "Bottom Line Personal" yesterday and there was an article about the happiest people. One of the points in the article is that happy people don't watch television and the recommendation is to have just one television in your house. We fail that miserably as we have one in almost every room but the kitchen! There will be no television in my kids rooms, let me tell you that?!

So television is my demon and as a result it haunts me with my children and all the studies out there about how kids shouldn't watch television before two and no more than 2 hours a day really speak to me. So in my own life I really try to limit it and not make it a part of our routine in anyway. When Elliot was a newborn and Erik was 20 months old I had to use it constantly for 6 months and have slowly weaned it out of our routine and I like it that way.

Yesterday was a perfect example of why I feel so strongly on this issue. Elliot was sick, Erik was bouncing off the walls and they were both up from their nap by 2:30 pm. Elliot was constantly crying, Erik wanted me to play with him and was craving attention from me in the way that he could never get enough. I was so tempted to turn on the tv again as we had already watch 30 minutes that afternoon because I was just tired and worn out and Erik was exhausting. It was 3:30 when I was feeling this way and I had a long afternoon ahead of me.

Then all of a sudden Erik came up with this insanely creative game. He kept asking me to sit on him. OK, so I sat on him, but I was confused why he kept asking me that. Finally I figured it out, he is the "Erik" name tag on the ground in his preschool. A little background, when we drop off the kids at preschool they are asked to sit on their name until every student arrives. So Erik is pretending he was the letters of his name, and I was pretending to be Erik and I needed to sit on him until Mrs. Zook told us it was time to go outside and play.

The game deviated and turned into chase the name tag to grab it to put it back on. Then we morphed outside and started playing "shark" and Elliot asked me to go down the slide with him several times. Erik was just full of creative ideas as the afternoon wore on. As a matter of fact he was on such a creative role, that he put on a concert for us during dinner. He stood with a paper in his hand and pretending to read it and sing songs. The show included, "Wheels on the Bus," "Route 66" and so many made up songs I could barely tell you all of them.

This is my point, if I had given into the desire to put on that television as I so desperately wanted, I was robbing Erik of this opportunity to be bored and being bored is so important. By being bored he used his mind to think of something creative and imaginative and had so much fun. I think he had more fun doing that then he would have had watching a movie or television show. So I say let my kids be bored, whine a little, but almost always something good comes out of it.

So I will probably always battle this demon, but from my own personal perspective and as a reminder to myself, I am much happier when I spend my time editing pictures and blogging when the boys nap than when I am watching a tv show. As a matter of fact since we went to Hawaii I have so much left over tv on my dvr I haven't even begun to catch up, I am stupidly proud of that for me.

Taking a deep breath

Today my friend wrote a blog all about slowing down. I thought it was appropriate on so many levels. I will confess I am very different from her in a couple ways. (She will be reading this blog, so sorry Traci, I love you!) I am very aware of how much I plan for my kids and never over plan us. Ever since I was stuck at home for a year because one of my kids was always napping I learned the value of slowing down. For me this manifests in a couple of ways. I have limited the amount of classes the boys take so they have time to just play and I never really schedule anything in the afternoon so they have a moment to themselves everyday. This means preschool and one extra class for Erik and only two classes for Elliot the entire week. We have storytime and playdates in there, but I try to keep it simple. I learned a while ago that is really what works best for all us.

We do try and do something every morning, but Elliot woke up sick yesterday so today we're stopped in our tracks. This is when reality hits, I have to entertain these two all day at my house and I am not even sure what to do. At the same time I am freaking out, I went to use my camera last night and it just stopped working. I couldn't get any power from it. My camera is an extension of me and I take pictures almost everyday so to be without a camera is to feel like a part of me is missing.

So then came the next question, what camera do I replace it with. I have been dreaming in full frames lately, but then I started doing some research on the Canon 7D. It was $800 cheaper and still had everything I need with a 1.6x cropped sensor. Since I don't shot a ton in low light and 90% of my photography is 100 ISO it seemed like the safe bet and the less expensive option, then I went to go buy it! It was sold out EVERYWHERE, I seriously could not find any deal or any place where it was sold online. I finally called a local camera store and asked why, duh! the earthquake in Japan halted the production of new cameras. So if you are looking to buy, wait is my advice, everything is overpriced right now. There will be a new camera in my future though, the bug is full force right now.

So how do the two relate, well before I got that news, I had a plan to go to four stores to find the best deal and get this camera today and my poor Elliot is sick and I need to slow down, but my obsession is over taking me. So I guess we all have our triggers that make us go crazy. The good news, is that I came to my senses and tried my second battery and my camera worked perfectly. So all the lectures from my husband about how I don't take care of my stuff was wasted because it wasn't me honey just a bad battery!

So now on to the photography part of my blog. I really wanted to stay home today, but the boys were going crazy, they just aren't use to being home in the morning. Elliot was screaming and not feeling well and Erik was bouncing off the walls because he has too much energy. Usually they get sick in reverse so I am not sure what to do when Erik is healthy and Elliot isn't. So a trip to Costco was perfect. But first we had to kill 40 minutes before it opened and opted to play outside.

When I first started taking pictures I was obsessed with clouds took them all the time. Most of the time we have crystal blue skies in Southern Calirornia like this, so I was amazed at the beautiful clouds this morning.

Here is Erik's new bald head. We shaved it yesterday to save him from himself, I keep telling myself it will grow back and am getting use to the change. I totally love rubbing his head obsessively.

Elliot loves the garbage truck and at one point this morning it stopped the boys in their tracks. Today it stopped Elliot more than once. Also its super fun to just climb the fence.

Then onto our Costco adventure. I was a bad mom today. Erik was begging me not to go to Costco, he wanted to go to the gym and play, but Elliot is sick so that isn't an option. I told him if he behaved he would get a new book. Opps, so he bahved. Also I wish Erik would get off his oral obsession and not put his mouth on shopping carts. I thought he would be finished by 3.5 years old!!

Then another bad mom moment, eating lunch at Costco. My kids always eat healthier, but today we made it an adventure since Elliot is sick and this is our only outing. Can you believe Erik ate the entire slice?

 

Last but not least, the latest obsession in our house, squeeze yogurt. We haven't had it in a while and they beg for this stuff.

 

Then my last bad mommy moment because I wanted to edit these pictures and kept thinking about what I wanted to write in my blog, but also because Elliot is sick and demands to be cuddled every couple minutes I gave them a tv break. They usually watch 0 or 30 minutes a day. The exception is when they are sick, but I am going to keep it under control today I tell myself.

Happy Mother's Day

Call me crazy, but since I spent all day everyday with my children on Mother's Day all I really want is an hour or two to myself no questions asked. I never get a lot of personal space these days and its like a dream to have it in the middle of the day. So here I sit with that personal space and what do I do, I blog. I just can't help it.

Carl and I have developed a routine about Mother's and Father's day. With children this young it is nice to not be in control for the day. So the other person takes control. That means all the potty visits, getting dressed, cooking, cleaning, etc the other person does. I am not saying I didn't do anything for my kids, I did take Erik potty once, but it is nice to just relax for one day and let the other person take care of it. I would probably take that over any jewelry any day right now. A new camera might beat that gift, but that is just a major wish list item or maybe Christmas... I am dreaming of full frames cameras theses days.

So this morning I didn't really get to sleep in because we had to head off around 9 am to Ventura County. We had brunch at 11 with Carl's parents, but also Erik has been complaining that his feet hurt and he has XXW feet so Stride Rite seems to be my best choice for stores. I vowed never to go anywhere but the outlet mall since I get them for 50% off. So for mother's day I got my boys new tennis shoes, but grateful because Elliot's were a size too small and he had been complaining of cramped toes and I didn't believe him. Mom's are wrong sometimes.

We have been practicing at restaurants a lot lately. Three restaurants in three days and instead of getting crazy while they eat, my boys behavior is getting better. Elliot sat without a booster or highchair just fine, like he did at dinner last night and Erik didn't need any extras minus a little car I gave to him because brunch wasn't ready when we got to the Country Club.

Then Gramdma took them for a walk around the Country Club while I had adult conversation. They saw ducks and golfers, sounds about right.

Then a joy ride on a golf cart. Erik even got to steer.

For mother's day its about family, good food and taking a moment off. I'll take it this year, although my kids haven't said Happy Mother's Day once. Maybe next year!

A morning with friends

When I mention to people that I will be driving to Orange County to visit a friend for the morning, I get crazy looks. Truthfully though it is only a 45 minute drive if you time it right and only 35 miles to our friend's house. That is nothing. My boys have been doing an 1.5 hour drive since they were born to their grandparents house, we're use to it.

My philosophy with driving is to do nothing. Every once in a while I will turn on a kids cd if the boys seem to be a bit too stir crazy, but I think it is good for children to be still or learn to be still and not over stimulated. I want my boys to stare out windows, look at the cars around them and enjoy the view. Lately we have been playing "I spy" and I love all the creative responses I have been getting from both boys with that game in the car. I have owned a car with a dvd player for a year now and we have NEVER used it; it could be broken for all I know. I am waiting for our next LONG drive, meaning 6 hour drive to use it. That's coming up in a couple weeks.

So when we go to Huntington Beach for the morning my boys don't even break a sweat. As a matter of fact on the way down Elliot kept exclaiming about all the different cars he saw and Erik was telling me all about Enzo's house and what he would do there. So a playdate with good friends 35 miles away is worth it, of course we hadn't been there in about 4 months but that is not the point...

I am really enjoying watching our boys match up. Today Elliot just did his own thing, while Erik dragged Enzo along on his adventures. Eventually I have to explain to Erik that Enzo was a bit younger and couldn't do the more complicated activities he had planned, but he definitely tried. I also love being around this friend because with the exception of a few minor details we are just so similar in the way we handle things. All of her toys stay outside and inside, we don't care if they go back and forth and her door stays open so the boys can just go back and forward between inside and outside, exactly how I do it!

Unfortunately my friend owns a cat and Erik has been having asthma like symptoms to cats. So we stayed for an hour before we headed out for lunch and some ice cream. I have no pictures at lunch because it is rather chaotic with two moms and three toddlers, but I do have to say the boys were amazingly well behaved. Erik has just been listening and behaving so well lately and Elliot follows whatever Erik does so it is a dream taking them out. We have also been practicing at restaurants a lot so they are use to eating out and its not a nightmare anymore to take them.

Afterwards I bribed Erik with Pinkberry which of course worked since he is on good behavior today. I had been thinking for a while that Elliot might do well with his own ice cream cone so I took a chance and just did it. He was surprisingly clean and hardly dripped. I did end up putting most of the ice cream in a cup and letting him eat the cone, but definitely something I'll do again!







 





Then after our 3 hours were up we had to say good-bye after running around to burn off the ice cream and drove home. It started off insanely smooth, Elliot fell asleep within 10 minutes of being on the road then the famous last words, "I have to go potty" and we still have 30 minutes left. I really did take a moment to decide if I really would stop, ELLIOT WAS SLEEPING and I was by myself, then I heard "Mommy I am having trouble keeping the poo poo in," so I knew I had to stop. I choose the worst exist with nothing but a Ralph's to stop in. Dragged both kids into the grocery store and of course Elliot wakes up.

From there is just goes down hill, both kids are over tired and they are egging each other on. I lost it a few times in frustration because I knew Elliot needed his sleep. Then of course with 10 minutes left to go Erik sleeps, but not Elliot. UGH! So I drove around for an extra 15 minutes in my neighborhood willing Elliot to give in to sleep. It worked. So we ended the day with two sleeping kids and mommy getting her valuable me time in. Couldn't ask for more honestly.

 

Library Fanatics

We love the library. I mean LOVE the library. The boys and I have been going to storytime for over a year now and we just adore it. Honestly it took me a long time to find the time and the courage to bring two boys there amid the books and a crawling baby who wanted to tear everything off the shelves, but eventually we found our rhythm and never looked back.

Every Wednesday we head over to one of our local branches and go to our special room right when the library opens. I never have to tell my boys to listen or pay attention or pull them away from rambunctious activities, they just naturally love sitting down to hear a story.

Erik is the worse. He gets completely engrossed in storytime and is oblivious to almost everything around him and barely notices if a friend walks in the door. When it is time for songs he jumps around with great enthusiasm and claps his hands loudly. He dreams of this place.

We have a little routine going right now. Once storytime ends we go out with all our friends and do the craft. Erik usually lasts about 2 seconds and Elliot sometimes a little longer. My boys are not very big fans of art. Then we wait for our friends to finish because my boys never want to leave without them and everyone holds hands as we head to the playground. After about an hour of playing we all head inside to pick our library books. Its our routine, us moms like it because anytime we deviate from this routine we notice it turns into chaos. Our kids actually calm themselves down when they are together, or maybe it is a different mom yelling at them that makes the difference.

Well today we just couldn't go. I tried to squeeze in Elliot's doctors appointment and the only slot available was right at storytime. Darn, I hate missing it when we aren't on vacation or sick because the boys love it so. We did head to those same friends house for a playdate so they got half their routine/fun. When we were there Erik saw his friend's library books and made the connection immediately that we didn't get any today, but returned our old ones. Oh well, it happens no big deal we moved on.

Then he woke up from his nap, is in a terrible mood and throwing the biggest tantrum. I finally figured it out to discover he is just really sad about not having library books and wants to go to the library. Now I don't give into tantrums, but can I deny a boy a book? Not this mom who encourages Erik's reading addiction at any opportunity.

I live about 1/4 miles from the library but it is all hills and almost 100 degrees today so we hopped in the car and headed over. I expected it to be dead and us be the only people, but it was buzzing with activity. I had no idea the library was such a popular place at 5 pm at night?!

The first thing Erik does it pull a bunch of random books off the shelf. He use to just read Bernstein Bears, but I got really sick of it and encouraged him to look for other books. It actually worked and now I just let him browse all he wants and pull down any book at that looks good to him. He usually sticks to one section, multiple books, but its about the process right?

I have to confess by letting Erik pick any book we do come home with some strange ones that I would rather read only once. Today since we had the extra time we sat down and skimmed and looked through a few of the books to make sure they are age appropriate. For some reason Erik loves books about Halloween and checks them out constantly.

Our libraries are nice because there are carts of books for the littlest ones like Elliot to shift through. Today he was stuck on a book that we have at home and it took a lot of convincing for me to put it back. I draw the line at checking out books we already have.

While Erik reads though his books, Elliot likes to play the puzzles.

Until Elliot found a Thomas book and wouldn't stop obsessing and insisting I look at it even when I had already looked at it. He was screaming about it in the library in a way I couldn't control, he was so excited. It wouldn't be my pick, but it was Thomas poems. We can have fun with that book.

Then one last quick look at our books to make sure they are the ones we really want to take home. We keep them for an entire week only to come back for more.

Our final picks to be taken home and read all week. One of the reasons why I love the library, we return them and I don't have to read the same books for longer than a couple days. Erik really likes the variety too.